Wire rope bending device



L. G. EHMANN WIRE ROPE BENDING DEVICE March 1, 1966 Filed March '7, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l lzblz fzllolz aer J by 07', 7 2 gal/1g gi l/gray March 1, 1966 L. G. EH'MANN WIRE ROPE BENDING DEVICE Filed March 7. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jzuerzzbr wfeslafijzzigzm a zw o/gflbnd, J 1A, {1 9.19 zwyrzw d United States Patent 3,237,658 WIREROPE BENDING DEVICE Leslie G. Ehmann, Portland, 0reg., assignor to Esco (Zorporation, Portland, Oreg., a corporation of Oregon Filed Mar. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 263,640 4 Claims. (Cl. 140--104) This invention relates to a wire rope bending device, and, more particularly, to a device for making an eye splice in wire rope.

To secure wire rope, it is usually necessary to bend the rope on itself and secure the end part to the standing part, ordinarily by means of a sleeve which is deformed, i.e., swaged, about the end part and the standing part. When the rope is relatively thick, i.e., of the order of two inches in diameter, it is so stiff that extraordinary strength on the part of the workman is required to fashion the eye splice. It is acknowledged, of course, that special shaping devices are available, but these have been too cumbersome to be used in the field where this work ordinarily is done.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a device for forming an eye splice in wire rope, more particularly, an eye splice in relatively thick and heavy wire rope.

Another object is to provide a novel device for forming an eye splice characterized by ruggedness of construction and simplicity of operation so as to permit usage in work areas remote from machine shops and other industrial facilities. A corollary objective thus is to provide a unit to reduce the extreme amount of manhours it takes to make a large splice and, thereby, the expense attendant on such activity.

Still another object is to provide a novel devicefor forming an eye splice in which the rope is bent in two directions simultaneously.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel wire rope bending device in which an eye splice is formed which has an axis generally coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the standing part of the rope.

Other objects and advantages of the invention may be seen in the details of construction and operation set down in this specification.

The invention is described in conjunction with an illustrative embodiment in the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inventive device, seen equipped with a length of wire rope in the process of being formed into an eye splice;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of a completed eye splice portion of a length of wire rope;

FIG. 3 is a top plan vie-w, partially broken away, of the inventive device seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view such as would be seen along the line 44 of FIG. 3 and with certain upstanding structures pictured in dotted line;

FIG. 5 is another perspective view of the device of FIG. 1, this showing the wire rope in a completed condition;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the device;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged elevational view of a locking feature of the device and which is seen in the left-hand portions of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view, partially broken away, of another locking feature of the invention, this being seen in the extreme upper portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a sectionalview taken along the sight line 99 applied to FIG. 3; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a tapered pin useful in conjunction with the locking feature of FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates generally a frame which is elongated and relatively thin.

ice

Hence, the frame 10 is adapted for ready mounting in a particular work area. The numeral 1 1 designates generally a length of wire rope having a standing part 12 which is adapted to extend a suitable distance for connection with a log, boom, etc. Ultimately, the eye splice (see FIG. 2) is achieved through the interconnection of the standing part 12 with the end part 12a by way of a pair of sleeves 13. As can be appreciated from a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 2, the sleeves 13 at the outset are generally oval in shape, the swaging operation crushing or deforming the sleeve and rope into a generally circular configuration.

Operation in general It will be appreciated that at the outset the wire rope 11 is provided in a straight or nearly straight length. At such time, the sleeves 13 are slipped onto the rope 11 and the assembly is placed on the'frame 10' with sufficient rope 12a beyond the frame end 10a (see FIG. 1) to make a loop. Thereafter, a locking device generally designated 14 is operated to immobilize an intermediate portion of the rope 11. The actual bending of the rope is achieved by a rotating arm 15 equipped with an up standing roller 16 and a cylindrical vise 17, the arm 15 pivoting about a shaft 18. It will be noted that the showing in FIG. 1 is at an intermediate stage, while that in FIG. 5 is the completed stage. After the end part of the rope 12a is brought into side-by-side relation with the standing part 12, the sleeves 13 are slid into place to form the loop configuration seen in FIG. 5. The assembly is now ready for swaging.

F arming mechanism The forming mechanism described with reference to elements 1518 in FIG. 1 can be seen in greater detail in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the frame 10 is seen to be equipped with an upstanding pin support 19 providing a bearing as at 20 for the pin 18. A thrust bearing 21 (see also FIG. 6) is provided, with a pinion 22 being fixed to the pin or shaft 18. The pin 18, at its upper end, is welded to the rotating arm 15, with the arm 15 being drilled as at 23 (see FIG. 3) to positionably carry the rotating roller 16. For this purpose, the rotating roller 16 is equipped with a depending shaft (not shown) which is journaled in a selected one of the openings 23. In the illustration given, the opening selected is that closest to the pivot shaft or pin 18.

From a consideration of FIG. 1, it will be seen that the rope 11 first passes around the roller 16 and thereafter is engaged by the cylindrical vise 17. Here, it should be noted that in the making of a very large loop, it is usually not necessary to clamp the circular vise 17 into engagement with the standing end 12a, but when relatively smallsized loops are being formed, the rope end 12a starts slipping at times and thus it is advantageous to clamp the vise 17 when the arm 15 has completed about half of its total rotation. Comparison of FIGS. 1 and 5 reveals that the arm travels about in forming the loop, the showing in FIG. 1 being about halfway through the rotation.

The circular or cylindrical vise 17 is seen in FIG. 8 and includes a depending stub shaft 24 for receipt in one of the openings 25 drilled in the arm 15. Thus, like the roller 16, the vise 17 is positionably located, but, unlike the roller 16, is not free to rotate, since the vise 17 is equipped with a depending lug 26 (see FIG. 8) which is received within one of the unused openings 25 in the upper surface of the arm 15.

The vise 17 includes a lower or male portion 27 which is equipped with an upper surface as at 28 angled at about 15 to the horizontal. Projecting above the surface 28 is a shank portion 29 which, at its upper end, is received within a female portion 30, the female portion 30 being equipped with a lower surface 31 arranged in confronting reltation with the surface 28 to grip the wire rope therebetween. The distance between the surfaces 28 and 31 is governed by the handle 32 which is fixed to a nut 33. The nut 33 in turn is threadedly received on the upper portion 34 of the stub shaft 24. The nut 33 supports the female portion by virtue of a plate 35 weldably secured thereto which is confined within an annular recess developed by an inwardly-extending flange 36 provided as part of the female portion 30. Thus, the plate 35 supports the inwardly-directed flange 36 and thus the entire female portion 30. Turning of the handle 32 moves the female portion downwardly in a sliding, non-rotating fashion due to the fact that the male and female portions 27 and 30, respectively, are equipped with interengaging lug portions as at 37.

Additionally, the frame 10 is equipped with a positionable arm 38 (see FIG. 9) which immobilizes a portion of the rope between the roller 16 and the locking means 14. For the purpose of positioning the arm 38, the frame or base 10 is equipped with a plurality of openings as at 39 and 40 (see FIG. 6), which receive, respectively, the projections 41 and 42 (see FIG. 9). Thus, the arm 38 stabilizes the rope intermediate the locking means 14 and the rotating arm 15. Preventing disengagement of the projection 41 from the opening 39 is a sidewardly-extending stud 41a (seen only in FIG. 9).

The arm 15 is rotated through the cooperation of a rack 43 (see particularly FIG. 5), which is adapted to project beyond the end 10a of the frame 10. As seen in FIG. 3, the rack 43 is pivotally connected to the piston rod 44 of a hydraulic cylinder 45. The cylinder 45 is anchored to the frame as at 46 (see FIGS. 3 and 6), and is double-acting, i.e., being supplied with hydraulic fluid from a source (not shown) through conduits 47 and 48f As seen in FIG. 4, the rack is guided and supported by means of a support member 49 having a generally L-shaped configuration in transverse section. From the foregoing, it will be seen that as the piston rod 44 is 6X1 tended, the rack follows and turns the pinion 22 so as to rotate the arm 15 and thereby convert a straight length of rope to the desirable looped condition seen in FIG. 5.

Locking means The locking means 14 can be seen 'in slightly enlarged form in FIG. 7, where a bracket 50 is provided in upstanding relation relative to the frame 10. The bracket 50 is equipped with openings for the receipt of tapered pins 51 (see also FIG. 10) which provide an abutment or stationary surface against which the wire rope is confined by means of a cam-acting element 52. The element 52 is seen to be equipped with an eccentric shaft as at 53 terminating in a laterally-extending handle 54. The shaft 53 may be received in any one of a plurality of openings 55 (see FIG. 7), depending upon the size of the rope to be locked in place. By turning the handle 54, the cam surface is brought into engagement with the wire rope in the arrangement seen in FIGS. 1 and 5 to tightly clamp the same.

In the operation of the device, the arm 15 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction (as seen in FIG. 1) to bring about the configuration seen in FIG. 5. In this arrangement, it will be noted that the axis of the loop is generally coincident with the axis of the standing part 12 of the wire rope 11. When precise symmetry of the loop is desired, it is advantageous to make the distance between the pivot shaft 18 and the axis of the roller 16 somewhat less than the distance between the pivot shaft 18 and the axis of the shaft 24 associated with the circular vise 17. However, the distances between the pivot shaft and the roller and vise is also a function of the size of these elements, and may be varied according to the particular installation, depending upon power requirements, size of equipment, etc.

While in the foregoing specification a detailed description of an embodiment of the invention has been set down for the purpose of explanation thereof, many variations in the details herein given may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a device for forming an eye-splice in wire rope,

a frame providing a generally flat Work surface having a length sufiicient to support a desired eye splice, means on said surface adjacent one end thereof for clamping said rope, means intermediate the ends of said surface for confining said rope against movement in one direction when said rope is being bent to develop an eye splice, said clamping and confining means thereby developing a standing part of said rope having a generally straight longitudinal axis, an arm mounted on said surface adjacent the other end thereof for rotation about an axis extending perpendicular to said standing part axis and spaced transversely from said standing part axis and in a direction opposite to the above-mentioned direction,

said arm being equipped with a pair of wire rope engaging means spaced on opposite sides of said rotational axis, and

means on said frame for rotating said arm.

2. A device for forming an eye splice in wire rope wherein the longitudinal axis of the eye is generally coaxial with the longitduinal axis of the standing part of the Wire rope, comprising:

a frame equipped with means for clamping a wire rope intermediate the rope ends,

an abutment on said frame for engagement with said rope and spaced from said clamping means to define said rope standing part,

an arm mounted on said frame for rotation about an axis normal to said longitudinal axis and equipped with a pair of rollers for engagement with said rope, said rollers being spaced on opposite sides of said rotational axis, one of said rollers being equipped With means for clamping said rope, and

gear means for rotating said arm.

3. A Wire rope bender comprising a frame-carrying means for securing a length of wire rope, an arm mounted on said frame for rotation about an axis perpendicular to said rope length, said arim being equipped with a pair of wire rope-engaging means spaced on opposite sides of said axis, and means on said frame for rotating said arm, one of the pair of wire rope-engaging means being equipped with means for restraining movement of said rope during the bending operation thereon incidental to forming an eye splice, said one of the pair of wire ropeengaging means including a cylindrical vise non-rota: tively, removably mounted on said arm.

4. A wire rope bender comprising a frame carrying first and second means for clamping a length of wire rope at spaced apart points, said first clamping means being adapted to clamp a standing part of said rope and being fixed relative to said frame, an arm mounted on said frame for rotation about an axis perpendicular to said rope length, means on said frame for rotating said arm, said arm being equipped with a pair of wire ropeengaging elements spaced on opposite sides of said axis, one of said elements being equipped with said second clamping means whereby said second clampingmeans is movable relative to said frame to permit development of an eye splice in said rope without disengagement of said clamping means during splice formation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,456,532 12/ 1948' Perazzo 15 3-45 2,938,565 5/1960 Klamm 153-49 FOREIGN PATENTS 464,413 4/1950 Canada.

CHARLES W. LAN-HAM, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR FORMING AN EYE-SPLICE IN WIRE ROPE, A FRAME PROVIDING A GENERALLY FLAT WORK SURFACE HAVING A LENGTH SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT A DESIRED EYE SPLICE, MEANS ON SAID SURFACE ADJACENT ONE END THEREOF FOR CLAMPING SAID ROPE, MEANS INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF SAID SURFACE FOR CONFINING SAID ROPE AGAINST MOVEMENT IN ONE DIRECTION WHEN SAID ROPE IS BEING BENT TO DEVELOP AN EYE SPLICE, SAID CLAMPING AND CONFINING MEANS THEREBY DEVELOPING A STANDING PART OF SAID ROPE HAVING A GENERALLY STRAIGHT LONGITUDINAL AXIS, AN ARM MOUNTED ON SAID SURFACE AJDACENT THE OTHER END THEREOF FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS EXTENDING PERPENDICULAR TO SAID STANDING PART AXIS AND SPACED TRANSVERSELY FROM SAID STANDING PART AXIS AND IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE ABOVE-MENTIONED DIRECTION, SAID ARM BEING EQUIPPED WITH A PAIR OF WIRE ROPEENGAGING MEANS SPACED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID ROTATIONAL AXIS, AND MEANS ON SAID FRAME FOR ROTATING SAID ARM. 